Cochran realized he was voting the wrong way and then changed his vote.

They should allow people who realize that they voted the wrong way in the presidential election, to change their votes too.

But there needs to be a mandatory retirement age for Pres, Senators, Congressmen, Judges, etc. Lets just say all elected & appointed Federal officials.

Include all federal employees and appointees, paid or unpaid, period.

It would be a great start to set the cutoff age at 75. Grandfather in the currently serving congresscritters.

And so a 79-year-old has to go through the motions of chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful legislative bodies in the world, when according to Politico he can barely answer reporters’ questions coherently anymore.

Uhhhh,I realize a reporter with the name of "Allahprophet" is biased as well as a bleeping idiot,but is he not familiar with OTHER US Senators? Thad Cochran is one of the most lucid.

Uhhhh,I realize a reporter with the name of "Allahprophet" is biased as well as a bleeping idiot,but is he not familiar with OTHER US Senators? Thad Cochran is one of the most lucid.

The writer is rather highly regarded in the Right blogosphere even if you don't like his sarcastic nickname.

As for Cochrane, he was lost and confused in his own home state during his last re-election, seemed to have no idea what city or state he was in.

Cochrane hasn't suddenly gone senile; he's been senile for at least five years. We saw the same thing happen to Sheets Byrd, though in a shorter time frame. But he was clearly senile well before he left office. As is often the case, both men have good days as well as bad days. So some days they do seem like their old selves but those days grow fewer as the disease advances. We've all seen this happen to elderly people we know.

It isn't their fault if they go senile. But it is our fault if we let senile persons hold so much power over our lives. What happens is that other people make the real decisions and decide how they will cast their vote. Cochrane is so far gone that he often can't even hit his Yea or Nay button accurately to cast his "vote". He's being tended by his staffers who tell him what to do and babysit him the way you'd watch a toddler.

As for Cochrane, he was lost and confused in his own home state during his last re-election, seemed to have no idea what city or state he was in.

It still makes him sharper than people like McLunatic,Mad Maxine,Fineswine,Susan Collins,etc,etc,etc.

Cochrane hasn't suddenly gone senile; he's been senile for at least five years. We saw the same thing happen to Sheets Byrd, though in a shorter time frame.

Well,Byrd was also a raging alcoholic. That didn't help.

He's being tended by his staffers who tell him what to do and babysit him the way you'd watch a toddler.

I think that is more often true than most people suspect. We elect "figure heads/talking heads" these days that spend most of their time campaigning,and who rely on their staffs to tell them what to vote for and what to vote against.

It still makes him sharper than people like McLunatic,Mad Maxine,Fineswine,Susan Collins,etc,etc,etc.

Fun as it might be to say, it isn't true.

Cochrane is a sad and tragic figure. McConnell wanted to keep a Big Gooberment Republican in place instead of his (somewhat flawed) Tea Party opponent. And Cochrane is paying the price for this cynicism in his public humiliation.

I think that is more often true than most people suspect. We elect "figure heads/talking heads" these days that spend most of their time campaigning,and who rely on their staffs to tell them what to vote for and what to vote against.

And we complain about the results of this system? It's not "the other guys" doing it. It's us. And both parties do it.

Cochrane is so far gone that he often can't even hit his Yea or Nay button accurately to cast his "vote

If he's checking out Diane Feinstein's hooters and hits the wrong button, the vote still counts!

It isn't really funny. It's tragic and sad. He needs to resign but McConnell hates the idea of the Tea Party guy getting elected in a special election. So they keep drawing out this humiliation of Cochrane. It's despicable actually.

I see polling that 75% of Utah voters think Hatch shouldn't run again. And he's not nearly as bad off as Cochrane even if he is in decline. I hope Utah retires Hatch, period. They're one of the few states that would turn a major committee chairman out of office due to disability. The shameful Cochrane example has to be an element of this.

He almost had to be physically restrained by his own staff to keep him from casting a vote against the GOP position

He's in no way obligated to vote "the GOP position". He did vote against the "GOP position", but then it was changed! Says so in the article.

Mitch McConnell should be in federal prison for changing a duly elected Senator's vote.

He did vote against the "GOP position", but then it was changed! Says so in the article.

No, Cochrane was persuaded by his staff to change his wrong vote by himself.

What I notice is how elderly some of the key committee chairmen in the GOP are. And the Dems are scarcely any better.

Our country is run by an increasingly out-of-touch Beltway octogenarian elite.

It's like the octogenarian Central Committee in China was for so many years (and still is somewhat).

He did vote against the "GOP position", but then it was changed!

That's still a true statement. He voted YES, before he was intimidated into voting NO.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Mitch had used an electric cattle prod on him.

We elect "figure heads/talking heads" these days that spend most of their time campaigning,and who rely on their staffs to tell them what to vote for and what to vote against.

Yup.

AIDE: "Senator McStain, now that our accountants have assured us The Cayman Island account is now flush, we've just been told to vote for the 'Crater America Bill'. We're also told Mitch will organize the GOP votes as MSNBC and CNN spin you into a hero for leading this honorable national suicide."